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University of Wyoming

Shepard Symposium on Social Justice to be Held on UW Campus


March 17, 2006 (Laramie, WY) -- For the first time, this year’s Shepard Symposium on Social Justice spans four days.  We kick off on Tuesday evening by showcasing adolescent artists engaged in music, poetry, Hip Hop, breakdancing, and graffiti art.  On Wednesday we are proud to sponsor an all-day Holocaust Education Workshop with facilitators from the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. and Houston, TX and an evening concert by Holly Near. Near, who has released over 20 recordings in her career, has been a powerful voice for humanity and social change for over 25 years.

The Sikuris de Wyoming Peruvian Panpipe Ensemble will begin Thursday’s events, followed by concurrent sessions that address a broad range of social justice issues.  The sessions include academic papers and panels, workshops, and cultural events—from scholarly research to SLAM poetry.  Presenters include public school and university students, and university faculty and social justice advocates from around the United States.

David Shipler, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author, will deliver the keynote address on Thursday evening.  Shipler’s best-selling book, The Working Poor: Invisible in America, presented an intimate portrait of working American families struggling against insurmountable odds to escape poverty.  He is also the author of A Country of Strangers: Blacks and Whites in America, Arab and Jew: Wounded Spirits in a Promised Land, and Russia: Broken Idols, Solemn Dreams.

Concurrent sessions continue Friday morning.  Judy Shepard, will provide the closing address.  Shepard has become a prominent, thought-provoking social justice activist in her own right through her work with the Matthew Shepard Foundation.  In 2003 the Symposium, which began as the Symposium for the Eradication of Social Inequality, was renamed the Shepard Symposium on Social Justice to honor the memory of Matthew Shepard.  We are honored to have Judy Shepard with us on our tenth anniversary.

Friday evening closes our symposium with the 2nd Cesar Chavez Banquet: Platicamos de Justicia (Let’s Talk About Justice).  All symposium attendees are invited; however, free tickets must be reserved in advance.

For more information or to register please visit www.shepardsymposium.org or call 307-766-2124 or 1-877-733-3618, ext. 1.


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For more information, please contact
Sheila Atwood-Couture at
(307) 766-5641 or satwood@uwyo.edu.